Newsletter

Toward True Health: Detoxify for a head start

Question: Starting the New Year, I want to hit the reset button and get on the road to better health. What is your take on cleanses, fasts, and juicing for detox-ing?

This has been all the talk for weeks now. Even at the table on Thanksgiving, the conversation went to cleaning out the old and starting clean for the new year.

Back in the day, when I was in high school, my friend Henry got an after-school job and soon after purchased his first car. Henry was so proud of that car. He washed and waxed it each and every day, even if it rained just as soon as he finished. That car was the joy in his life.

We live in a world replete with toxins and there really is no way to avoid all of them. The most efficient way to stay ahead of the degenerative health problems caused by the toxins in our environment, is to commit to our better health. That means not setting yourself up for disaster by loading up on the toxins and then trying to clean it up before it causes problems – it’s already causing problems. We must become vigilant in the maintenance of health.

We cannot control all the environmental toxins, but those we can control really are much more important to our personal health than the ones we cannot control. We can control what we eat, the water we drink, how, where, and how much exercise we get, our personal hygiene, and the air we breathe in our homes and offices.

The main organs of detoxification are the skin, liver, kidneys, lungs and the digestive system, and all are greatly affected by our choices.

The “easy way” is what we most often seek. The easy, fast, painless solutions we want are more often than not fraught with problems. Success comes from doing the important things, right!

Our goal should be to keep our bodies clean, by exercising regularly, eating clean nutrient-dense high fiber foods, practicing deep breathing, drinking the appropriate amount of clean water — avoiding fluoride and chlorine — bathing daily, sleeping at night, and avoiding food poisons. And, to do so each day, like Henry did, without fail.

So, to reset your body’s systems you need to evaluate what you’ve been doing. Examine what you are eating, drinking, and the lifestyle you’ve created, so that you can set in writing the change you want and your goals.

I’ve found that it is most effective to get your lifestyle in check first. Stop smoking, remove chemical household cleaners, set a healthful bedtime, setup your exercise schedule and increase your water intake. Practice these modifications, and let them become etched on your consciousness. After a few weeks, you will see and feel a change and become excited about doing more, the next step going forward.

Before making food changes, set in place some new practices around food: cooking more, carrying food with you — lunch or snacks — drinking more water, eating out less, and gathering kitchen and cooking utensils you may not have.

When you’re ready for the BIG move (don’t put it off too long) start by cleaning your kitchen of all the toxic foods you’ve collected over time. Those times when you didn’t know better, such as foods with MSG, artificial colors and sweeteners, and genetically modified foods.

Make your shopping list around what you like and want to like and what your family likes and what you want them to like. And plan how you’ll involve them in the shopping, preparing and meal planning. Get your family to buy in to the idea that your lives are worth saving.

Using a detox product can lead to problems you can do without, such as toxins released from the colon becoming reabsorbed into the body’s fatty tissues and even into the brain tissues, causing brain fog, memory loss or even physical pains. Some detox programs will increase organ stress, which is dangerous. A natural detox — by eliminating toxins — will always boost your goals for increased health and weight loss, eliminate sluggishness, and will also increase memory and intelligence. It will also put you on the road to reverse some long standing chronic illnesses.

Juicing is a great way to quickly get caught up on the nutrients with which to accelerate the removal of toxins. Leafy greens and fruit are packed with the anti-oxidants and flood the body with the natural resources for healing. Stay away from sugar and artificial sweeteners, and choose only clean non-GMO produce, because in juicing you are concentrating the nutrients, don’t concentrate the toxins.

As part of a healthy lifestyle we are fasting each day from dinner-time to breakfast the next morning. This allows the body to be rejuvenated while the body is at rest and asleep.

Careful with fasting. Fasting is a great way to truly fast track your way to health. Change can occur quickly and you should be monitored, depending on what health concerns you may have.

Doing a fast from foods while you maintain hydration with liquids such as organic fermented drinks, herbal teas, water with infused super food extracts, water with lemon or apple cider vinegar will provide the micro-nutrients and anti-oxidants to facilitate healing.

Certainly you may want to do an intermittent fast where you have healthful liquids every hour while awake one day and eat healthily the next day, or some variation of it, on a regular schedule.

Fasting allows the body’s tissues to discharge sick organ cells quickly and increase healing speed which is really great. This can be challenging as well, so design a plan with your nutritionist and have someone to monitor you regularly. And certainly keep a diary of what you’re doing, drinking, and feeling.

If this is your first time fasting, let someone guide you and proceed with caution. If you are taking meds for any illness, do not proceed without professional guidance.

Carolyn Guilford is a nutrition consultant, health and wellness advocate, author and workshop organizer. If you have a question you’d like answered in Toward True Health please send it to carolyn@healthrestoration101.com. ‘Like’ us on Facebook and get new health tips at www.facebook.com/healthrestoration101 or write to Health Restoration Consulting P.O. Box 2814, Savannah, GA 31402.